One-man top.



G. H. HIGGINS.

ONE MAN TOP. APPLICATION FILED FEB- l4. l9l 6- Patented Feb. 20, 1917;

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TED STA g P T E GEORGE H.- HIGGINS, oslooa'rnaivnjnnw YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CORTLAND CARRIAGE coonsoo qos. ooarmnn, ivnw YORIL A oonronarron or vnw YORK.)

.oNE-Mairfror.

Specification of Lettersilatent.

pPatented Fe an, 1917.

Application filed February 14, 1916. "semu m5. 78,192.

To allwhom it may concern 1 Be-it knownthat-I, GEORGE I-L'Hreoms, a citizen of the United States of America,

and resident of Cortland, inithe county of Cortland, in the State of'New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in One-M:.11 1 Top s, of which the following, taken in connection with theac'companying.

drawings, is-a full, cleargand exact description; v I

This invention relates to certain improvements in folding tops for touring cars, mo-

tor boats and other vehicles, commonly known as one-manextension tops, mthat 15 it may be extended, folded or crashed? by a single ndlvidual-w1thout asslstance, and

it is an improvement upon the structure disclosed in my co-pendingappl'ication, Se

rial-No. 858,032, filed August 22, I914. Y

The main object of the inventionis to enable such a topto be easily and quickly extended 'or folded by a single operatorand without excessively elevating or; depressing any parts of the same during the operation.

SpecificalIy the invention provides means for automatically moving the forward bow sockets and bows to extendedposition upon the movement of the main arm ormain bow to its extended position. v

7 Other. objects and advantages will an pear from the following descriptiomft'aken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a-sideelevation" of an upper portion of an automobile body showing one specific application of my improved foldable top,'the dotted lines at theleft indicating the folded position,-while the -dottedlines at the right indicate asemi-folded or semiextended position. Y

"Fig. 2 is 'a cross'section on line 2-2,

Fig. 1.

As previously intimated, this folding top is adapted to be used in connection with. tourlng cars and s1m1lar vehlcles-requirmg a top of considerable'length, and may embody any suitable or desirable number of bow sockets andbows, the specific illustration herein showing fourbows, a rear bow 1, a rear auxiliary bow 2-, a'front auxiliary bow 3, and a front how 4- carried by analogously identified bow receiving arms or bow sockets -5-, -6,

7 and 8, respectively, the bows adapted to support and tensiona suitable flexible top or covering a having its rearend 5 fastened. in the usual manner to the The main armor bow socket 9, may be made hollow so'that it may or may not carry and support a bow, dependent upon the number of bows required. This main arm is pivotal'lysupported from the body at 10-', and the rear bow socket =5 is 'pivotally carried from the arm or bow socket -9 at a point slightly above and adj acentthe pivot -10 The front bow socket -8 is constructed in the form of toggle sections '11:- and 11 pivoted to the intermediate portion of the arm 9' at 12, and the toggle rear GIId'Of "the body of a vehicle, as'-A joint 13 between the sections "11 and'11+ is positioned above the plane of the arms and above a line connecting the pivot 12 with the end of the bow socket parts in' locked position against downward '8,-, thereby automaticallyretaining the displacementunder vibration of the matended position of the top, extends rearwardly therefrom. V

The bow socket 7'is pivotally carried by the toggle section '1 1 and, in extended position of the top extends upwardly and forwardly therefrom;

The bow socket 7 is connected to the toggle section 11' by a link or tie piece 1 4 pivoted at ,15' to the bow socket 7 and at 16 to the toggle section .11' wardly beyond the pivot 12 and is pivotally connected at a point abovethepivot '-'12 to a link or tie-piece 17', one end of which link or tie-piece is connected to The arm '9 is extended upthe bow socket 7 at a point between the pivot 1-5 and the point of connection of said bow socket to the toggle section 11. l 1

The links -14 and .17 carry the bow sockets 7- and 8 in proper relative position', relieving the flexible top from excessive strains by limiting .the forward swinging movement of said sockets in relation to the main arm 9 and by tending to prevent downward movement of the toggle joint -13-.

- 'For'the purpose of automatically throwing forward and extending the bowsockets 7 and 8 when the arm or bow 9 is raised to extend the top and for collapsing the said parts when the bow 9 is moved rearwardly, the link 17 is extended rearwardly from its pivot 18 upon the arm 9 to form a lever arm or crank 19 pivotally connected at 20* to a link -21 which link is in turn pivoted tothe bow socket 6 at the point 22-.

The crank 19 and link 2lare so shaped, arranged and proportioned as to be in close juxtaposition to the bow sockets in collapsed position.

It will be readily apparent that when the top has been moved, as shown in dotted lines at the right of Fig. 1, toward its extended position that anyifarther forward movement of the arm 9 will cause a rocking movement rearwardly of the bow socket .-6 and its bow 2, whereby the link -21- is moved downwardly to I rock the crank arm 19 about the pivot -1S, whereby the link 17 is raised to raise the bow socket 7- and its bow 3 .and move the bow socket 8- to ward complete extended position.

By raising the main arm 9 to ex-' tended position of the top,the bow sockets and their bows are all automatically moved to extended position of the top without the necessity of the operator releasing the arm -9 or moving'from the position taken in raising the arm 9 to'its extended position.

The operation of extending the top is automatically completed by the initial movement of any forward bow socket to its position of complete extension.

Although I have shown and described one specific construction and method of operation, I do not desire to limit myself to the same, as many changes may be made in the details of form, arrangement and operation without departing from the spirit of this invention as set forth in the appended claims, the basis feature of which resides in the automatic movement of the forward bows to their extended position by merely moving, preferably a single bow socket or arm to the position which it neces sarily assumes when the top is extended.

What I claim is: V

1. In a folding top for vehicles, a main arm, a toggle socket having its rear section hinged to said main arm, a front auxiliary bow socket hinged to the rear section of the toggle socket, a rear auxiliary bow hinged to the main arm, a link connecting the front auxiliary bow socket to the front section of the toggle, a tie-piece connecting the main arm to the front auxiliary bow socket, said arms, front auxiliary bow sockets hinged to the rear sections of the toggle sockets, tie-pieces connecting the upper ends of the main arms to points on the front auxiliary bow sockets below their centers, and links connecting the front toggle sections to points on the front auxiliary bow sockets above their centers, a rear auxiliary bow socket, said tie-pieces provided with projecting lever arms,yand links connecting said lever arms to said rear auxiliary bow sockets. a V

3. In a folding top for vehicles, main arms, toggle sockets hinged to the main arms," front auxiliary bow sockets hinged to the rear sections of the toggle sockets, tie-pieces connecting the upper ends of the main arms to points on the front auxiliary bow sockets below their centersand links connecting the front toggle sections to points on the front auxiliary bow sockets above their centers, a rear auxiliary bow socket, and means connected to the tie pieces and actuated by moving themain arm to extended position for rocking said tie-pieces about their pivots on the main arms to move the toggle bow sockets and the front auxiliary bow sockets toward extended position.

a. In a folding top for vehicles, a main arm, a toggle socket having its rear section hinged to said main arm intermediate the length of said arm, a front auxiliary bow socket hinged to the rear section of the toggle socket, a rear auxiliary bow socket, a

tie-piece pivotally connecting the front auxiliary bowsocket and said main arm above the pivot of the rear section of the toggle socket, said tie-piece provided with a crank arm, and a link connecting said crank arm to the rear auxiliary bow socket.

In witness whereof I vhave hereunto set my hand this 10th day of February, 1916.

GEORGE H. HIGGINS.

Witnesses:

E. A. THOMPSON, M. V. HOWLAND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. I 

